Leptospirosis in the Rural Areas of Guilan Province (2004-2005)

Introduction: Leptospirosis is a worldwide disease which affects wild and domestic animals as well as human beings, and has become a major public health problem throughout the world, particularly in the tropics and temperate regions, especially in costal region of northern par tap Iran.  It is caused by the pathogenic Leptospira sp. strains that are often responsible for nervous system abnormalities. The disease varies from subclinical infection to a severe illness with multi organ involvement. Rodents and domestic animals are the reservoir of this disease. Rural inhabitants are mainly farmers, therefore all of them could be affected with direct contact by animals and working on farms, since most of them are working specially in warm seasons and bare-footed with paying no attention to any basic advice. In this research, we wanted to determine the incidence rate of Leptospira between the rural inhabitants, and detect the serum titers of the patients.

Materials and Methods: This study carried out on 552 people in a selected area of Guilan Province based on the stratified sampling criteria. All of these rural inhabitants who were cultivators and animal husbandmen were volunteers for this research. All samples were tested through MAT (Microscopic Agglutination Test) method, then positive serums and different titers were all reported.

Results: 21% of the population had positive serum reaction to different strains of Leptospira spp. and according to the results, 21% and 22% of men and women had positive serum reaction respectively. Prevalence of disease is more visible in the 30-50-year-old rural inhabitants. Area L. icterohaemorrhagiae is the majority of different strains of leptospira spp with the serum titers ranged from 1:100(54% of cases) to The prevalence of leptospirosis among cultivators is higher than others.

Conclusion: According to the findings, we could say that leptospirosis exists in Guilan province, but since this test has been performed on limited people in this province, and since the tropic and temperate climate in this province is seen in the most time of the year, then it is necessary to do this test in all parts of this province.